Karla K. Stuebing

Cognitive profiles of reading disability: Comparisons of discrepancy and low achievement definitions.

To examine the validity of distinguishing children with reading disabilities according to discrepancy and low-achievement definitions, we obtained four assessments of expected reading achievement and two assessments of actual reading achievement for 199 children, 7.5-9.5 years old. These assessments were used to subdivide the sample into discrepancy and low-achievement definitional groups who were compared on 9 cognitive variables related to reading proficiency. Results did not support the validity of discrepancy versus low achievement definitions. Although differences between children with impaired reading and children without impaired reading were large, differences between those children with impaired reading who met IQ-based discrepancy definitions and those who met low reading achievement definitions were small or not significant

Subtypes of Reading Disability: Variability around a Phonological Core.

Eight measures of cognitive and language functions in 232 children were subjected to multiple methods of cluster analysis in an effort to identify subtypes of reading disability. Clustering yielded 9 reliable subtypes representing 90% of the sample, including 2 nondisabled subtypes, and 7 reading-disabled subtypes. Of the reading-disabled subtypes, 2 were globally deficient in language skills, whereas 4 of the 5 specific reading-disabled subtypes displayed a relative weakness in phonological awareness and variations in rapid serial naming and verbal short-term memory. The remaining disabled subtype was impaired on verbal and nonverbal measures associated with rate of processing, including rate and accuracy of oral reading. Studies showed evidence for discriminative validity among the 7 reading-disabled subtypes. Results support the view that children with reading disability usually display impairments on phonological awareness measures, with discriminative variability on other measures involving phonological processing, language, and cognitive skills.

Validity of IQ-Discrepancy Classifications of Reading Disabilities: A Meta-Analysis

According to federal regulations, children with reading difficulties are eligible for special education services under the learning disability category if they display reading skills that are significantly lower than their scores on intelligence (IQ) tests. Children who are poor readers but do not display this discrepancy are not eligible for special education. A meta-analysis involving 46 studies addressing the validity of this classification of poor readers revealed substantial overlap between the IQ-discrepant and IQ-consistent poor readers. Aggregated effect sizes were in the negligible range for the Behavior (–.05) and Achievement (–.12) domains but in the small range for the Cognitive Ability domain (.30). The latter effects were heterogeneous, with larger estimates showing higher performance by the IQ-discrepant poor readers. The size of the effects could be largely explained by the selection criteria used to form groups, indicating that variation in group definitions across studies accounted for variability in effect size estimates. These results provide little evidence supporting the validity of the IQ-discrepancy classification fundamental to public policy concerning students with learning disabilities and cast doubt on the need for IQ tests in identifying these students.

Analysis of change: modeling individual growth

Research on change is complicated by problems of measurement and analysis stemming from a conceptualization of change as a series of accumulating increments and decrements. In contrast, individual growth curves depict change as a continuous process underlying individual performance. These two perspectives are reviewed, and some problems with the use of difference scores in the study of change are clarified. Traditional methods are contrasted with growth curve analysis for the purposes of measuring change and studying its correlates. An illustrative example of the use of growth curves is provided from research on recovery of cognitive function following pediatric closed head injury.

Executive functioning deficits in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder are independent of oppositional defiant or reading disorder.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate deficits of executive functions in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) classified by type (combined [CT] or predominantly inattentive [IT]) and comorbidity with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and reading disorder (RD). METHOD The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and Tower of Hanoi (TOH) were administered to 28 community volunteers and 359 children (7.5-13.5 years old) divided into ADHD types, RD, and ODD. RESULTS ADHD/CT children solved fewer puzzles and violated more rules on the TOH than ADHD/IT or non-ADHD subjects. On the WCST there were no differences between diagnostic samples in perseverativeness, but ADHD/CT patients made more nonperseverative errors than ADHD/IT children. ODD was associated with moderately better TOH performance and RD with excessive rule breaks. CONCLUSIONS Executive functioning deficits were found for only ADHD/CT children and were independent of comorbidity with RD or ODD.

Psychometric Approaches to the Identification of LD IQ and Achievement Scores Are Not Sufficient

Simulated data were used to demonstrate that groups formed by imposing cut-points based on either discrepancy or low-achievement definitions of learning disabilities (LD) are unstable over time. Similar problems were demonstrated in longitudinal data from the Connecticut Longitudinal Study, where 39% of the children designated as having LD in Grade 3 changed group placement with repeated testing in Grade 5. These results show that the practice of subdividing a normal distribution with arbitrary cut-points leads to instability in group membership. Approaches to the identification of children as having LD based solely on individual test scores not linked to specific behavioral criteria lead to invalid decisions about individual children. Low-achievement definitions are not a viable alternative to IQ-discrepancy definitions in the absence of other criteria, such as the traditional exclusions and response to quality intervention. If we accept the premise of multiple classes of low achievers, then we must develop identification systems that are valid and abandon systems whose only merits are their historical precedence and convenience.

Problem Solving and Computational Skill: Are They Shared or Distinct Aspects of Mathematical Cognition?.

The purpose of this study was to explore patterns of difficulty in 2 domains of mathematical cognition: computation and problem solving. Third graders (n = 924; 47.3% male) were representatively sampled from 89 classrooms; assessed on computation and problem solving; classified as having difficulty with computation, problem solving, both domains, or neither domain; and measured on 9 cognitive dimensions. Difficulty occurred across domains with the same prevalence as difficulty with a single domain; specific difficulty was distributed similarly across domains. Multivariate profile analysis on cognitive dimensions and chi-square tests on demographics showed that specific computational difficulty was associated with strength in language and weaknesses in attentive behavior and processing speed; problem-solving difficulty was associated with deficient language as well as race and poverty. Implications for understanding mathematics competence and for the identification and treatment of mathematics difficulties are discussed.

Relationship between quality of life and mood in long-term survivors of breast cancer treated with mastectomy

Abstract This study sought to compare the mood and quality of life (QOL) of breast cancer survivors with those observed in low-risk breast cancer screening patients. A group of long-term stage I–III breast cancer survivors (n=60) was compared with low-risk breast cancer screening patients (n=93) on measures of depression, anxiety, and QOL. Patients without a previous psychiatric history were studied. Although the groups differed in age and education, correlations performed between age, education, and the outcome measures showed no association of age and education with the outcome measures. Breast cancer patients with stage III disease showed significantly poorer functioning in all areas except family than did other breast cancer patients; however, when compared with the breast cancer screening group, they showed higher QOL scores in several domains. Higher mood scores were correlated with poorer scores in all QOL areas except family functioning in the breast cancer group. Only significantly elevated depression scores correlated with poorer QOL areas in the breast cancer screening group. The psychological measures were found to be more robust predictors of QOL than the demographic variables in both the cancer and the screening patients. These results suggest that long-term survivors of breast cancer continue to experience significant stress and emotional distress, as evidenced by increased depression and lower QOL functioning.

A Meta-Analysis of Interventions for Struggling Readers in Grades 4–12 1980–2011

This meta-analysis synthesizes the literature on interventions for struggling readers in Grades 4 through 12 published between 1980 and 2011. It updates Scammacca et al.’s analysis of studies published between 1980 and 2004. The combined corpus of 82 study-wise effect sizes was meta-analyzed to determine (a) the overall effectiveness of reading interventions studied over the past 30 years, (b) how the magnitude of the effect varies based on student, intervention, and research design characteristics, and (c) what differences in effectiveness exist between more recent interventions and older ones. The analysis yielded a mean effect of 0.49, considerably smaller than the 0.95 mean effect reported in 2007. The mean effect for standardized measures was 0.21, also much smaller than the 0.42 mean effect reported in 2007. The mean effects for reading comprehension measures were similarly diminished. Results indicated that the mean effects for the 1980–2004 and 2005–2011 groups of studies were different to a statistically significant degree. The decline in effect sizes over time is attributed at least in part to increased use of standardized measures, more rigorous and complex research designs, differences in participant characteristics, and improvements in the school’s “business-as-usual” instruction that often serves as the comparison condition in intervention studies.

Motor, Visual-Spatial, and Somatosensory Skills After Closed Head Injury in Children and Adolescents: A Study of Change

Correlational studies of recovery of function following traumatic brain injury have revealed weak, nonspecific relationships between outcome and injury variables. In order to better identify factors affecting recovery, 49 children (aged 6-15 years) were followed prospectively with repeated neuropsychological assessment of motor, visual-spatial, and somatosensory skills up to 5 years postinjury. Analyses of individual growth curves revealed systematic nonlinear changes after injury. Variability among growth patterns related robustly to injury variables. Younger children with severe injuries showed slower growth on visual-spatia l and motor tasks than did older children of similar severity or similarly aged children with less severe injuries. These findings support a hypothesis of increased vulnerability of rapidly emerging skills in young children and argue against an explanation of lowered recovery rates due to concomitant maturational influences on development. Results of studies of cognitive functioning in children after closed head injury (CHI) have consistently demonstrated the presence of deficits in motor skills and nonverbal processing during the subacute phase of recovery (Klonoff, Low, & Clark, 1977; Levin & Eisenberg, 1979a, 1979b). These motor and nonverbal deficits persist one or more years postinjury (Chadwick, Rutter, Brown, Shaffer, & Traub, 1981; Knights et al., 1991; Winogron, Knights, & Bawden, 1984). Additional studies have demonstrated deficits in memory (Levin et al., 1988), language (Levin & Eisenberg, 1979a, 1979b), and behavioral adjustment (Fletcher, Ewing-Cobbs, Miner, Levin, & Eisenberg, 1990). Yet, few studies of neurobehavior al function in children after CHI have addressed changes in performance patterns over time or the actual process of change. To study the recovery process, researchers must use longitudinal measurement of specific abilities and behaviors. For instance, Chadwick, Rutter, Brown, Shaffer, and Traub (1981) prospectively studied the recovery of IQ scores in children up to 27 months after CHI. By testing the children